This is just a little idea that came to me, and I couldn't sleep until I wrote it. Have a little snippet of Maia's life as she enjoys one of her favourite pastimes: making people suffer. Thanks to @beckstriad for naming Taylor, and to @pythagoreanwhump for all the knife inspiration ;)
Maia looks up from her desk when she hears the knock at her door. Beckoning whoever it is inside, she watches as two of her ladies drag between them a bound and gagged figure, dropping them to the floor unceremoniously. She stands up from where she was sitting, heels clicking ominously on the tiled floor as she comes to observe them. They are young, around nineteen if she had to guess, with soft hair that half covers their eyes, wide with fear, and she notices that they are trembling slightly where they kneel.
"We found them sneaking around the place," one of the ladies explains. "Thought you might like... a word," she continues with a knowing smile.
"I do indeed," Maia replies, congratulating her employees with a pat on the shoulder. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like some time alone with them," she concludes with a grin, as the others turn to leave.
"You really a darling, aren't you?" she coos, crouching down to look her captive in the eye. Their gaze is cast downwards, onto the pristine floor, and she relishes the way their shoulders shake with every hitched breath. "Look at me," she instructs, tilting the kid's chin up with her fingers and brushing the hair out of their eyes. She sees now how they glimmer with unshed tears, and she smiles.
Even without the ropes tying their wrists and ankles together, she doesn't think that they would dare to run. She wants to ask them a few questions, but she has a feeling that the moment she rips off the tape covering their mouth, they'd start talking. No, she leaves the gag alone. No need to cut her fun short. Instead, she draws out a blade from her inner pocket, opening it with a satisfying click and angling it towards them in a way that makes the light glint off its surface.
It's a beautiful knife, one of her favourites, with a thin black handle and a simple silver blade, soon to turn crimson with blood. As soon as her captive sees it, they tense up, shaking their head and making muffled noises of panic from behind the gag. She winds a hand into their hair, petting it gently in an attempt to soothe them.
"Shh, there's nothing to be so upset about," she tells them softly. "At least wait until I've started." At that, their eyes screw shut in anticipation, and they quieten slightly, though she can still see their involuntary trembling. She strokes the flat of her blade over their neck, smirking as they flinch at its cold touch, but she doesn't dig it in just yet. This is a pleasure in itself.
Slowly, she drags the tip of the knife along their shirt, tearing it in half, but making sure to not tarnish the pristine skin underneath. They open their eyes then at the lack of pain, and she sees in them confusion and a raw desperate hope. How satisfying it will be to crush it.
Finally, she lets the blade bite into flesh. She drags a thin, red line down her captive's arm, and they begin to sob, whimpering slightly from behind the gag. It sounds like they're trying to beg, and she wonders if she should oblige them. It's been so long since she's had someone so pathetic to enjoy that she almost wonders what nonsense they will spill out when the dam is removed.
Slowly, making sure that it will hurt, Maia unpeels the tape sealing her captive's lips. They begin to plead before she's even finished, barely coherent begging tumbling out.
"Please, I'm so sorry. Don't hurt me Ma'am, please. I didn't want to do it. I had no choice." Their voice shakes and wavers with such sincerity that she doesn't doubt that they are telling the truth.
She slaps them, hoping that a hard backhand across the face will at least silence them so she can talk. "What's your name?" she demands, before anything else.
"Taylor, Ma'am, Taylor Whitley. Please, you have to believe me, I didn't see anything, I swear." Another slap, then silence.
"Who sent you?" she continues her interrogation.
"I-it was my boss, he didn't give me any choice. He... he'll hurt me if I fail. Please, you can just let me go. I'll suffer as it is," they manage to stutter out.
"I want a name, not a sob story," she almost shouts.
"It's Jerome, Jerome Knoles, Ma'am," they get out between sobs. "Please, he'll kill me if he finds out I told you."
"Oh, and who says I won't kill you first?" she smirks, enjoying the way they pale at that, beginning to plead with renewed vigour.
"Please, don't kill me, I can't bear to die yet, please. I want to see my family again, I want to see the Sun. Please don't let this be the end, Ma'am." They look so resigned, even as they beg her for their life, and she is almost moved. It's been a while since she's had anyone so good at begging.
"You should be careful what you wish for," she says instead. "Most people beg for death before I'm done with them." At these words, they look as if they are about to faint, and that would be a nuisance she doesn't want to deal with, so she's quick to reassure them.
"Don't worry, I have no plans to end your life," she sighs. It would have been an added bonus, and she can't help but wonder what sounds they would have made as she plunged the knife into their chest or dragged it across their throat. But she has to remind herself that there is more at stake here than just enjoyment.
"You're going to send a message to your boss," she explains with some finality. Their gaze follows her as she stands to walk behind them, but they don't dare to make another sound. Not yet.
Removing the torn shreds of their shirt to fully clear her canvas, Maia places her blade onto their skin, and begins to carve. It takes a while, but she does not notice the time pass, lost in the satisfying parting of the flesh, the trickle of blood and her captive's cries and broken screams. At times, she almost wonders if she should replace the tape. They're being ever so noisy. But then again, her friends are probably enjoying the sounds from behind her door, so she lets it be.
When she is done, there are three clear words on Taylor's back. "Stay away, signed Maia." She wipes the blade on their cheek, trailing it over their lips before she flicks it closed. They lick at them, face scrunching in disgust at the metallic taste of their own blood, and she can't help but laugh.
"That's it, all done." She stands, dusting off her trousers, and calling out for someone to collect the kid. "Well done," she pats them on the head. "I enjoyed that very much. It's a shame you didn't seem to." Turning to her employees, now standing patiently inside her office she adds, "Show our guest the way out. And make sure they get home safely."